University Of Nottingham study measures people’s attitudes to societal issues
A civic empathy scale, which measures people’s knowledge, attitudes and behaviours towards societal issues, has been launched today.
The experts behind the K.A.R.M.A. scale say it can be used to help organisations and governments to understand people’s motivations and behaviours (what they term ‘civic mindedness’), prior to or after rolling out new practices or policies.
Underpinned by Nottingham University Business School research, the K.A.R.M.A scale has been co-developed with Impresario Global (I.M), an Indian social impact marketing technology company founded by University of Nottingham alumna Anubhuti Sharma.
The tool provides a civic empathy score by evaluating an individual’s knowledge, attitude and practice towards various social issues and causes. The score is then used to identify gaps in the attributes measured by the scale so that stakeholders can get customised learning modules and support from experts to enhance their civic empathy.
K.A.R.M.A. represents kindness, altruism, righteousness, mindfulness, and authenticity – attributes that the researchers found comprise civic empathy.
The scale was co-produced by researchers at the International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility (ICCSR), within Nottingham University Business School (UK), led by Professor Judy Muthuri, and Impresario Global (India).
As part of their research, the team assessed the level of civic empathy in individuals engaging in social issues and corporate social responsibility initiatives. The team intend for the tool to be used as part of global citizenship education, which is the umbrella term for social, political, environmental, and economic actions of globally minded individuals and communities on a worldwide scale.
portrait of Judy Muthuri
The K.A.R.M.A. scale can help us to understand what motivates people to engage in voluntary and civic actions intended to help others in society.
Dr Judy Muthuri, Professor of Sustainable Business and Development at Nottingham University Business School
Professor Muthuri continued: “It allows users to gather as much information as possible on people’s pro-social behaviours and their attitudes towards social responsibility and civic engagement, like volunteering and community service, which can help humanity more generally.
“It’s important because many organisations want to engage in new policies or interventions and if an organisation doesn’t understand people’s intentions or pro-social behaviours, you may not be able to design interventions that fit and meet their expectations. You can also measure success and social impact using this tool.
“The scale can be used by a multitude of different organisations, including businesses to measure their employees’ organisational citizenship behaviours, such as how they feel about taking part in Corporate Social Responsibility activities. Governments can also use it to understand their citizens and therefore develop interventions with the right information, and it can be used in schools and universities to understand the extent of students’ attitudes and behaviours.”
Anubhuti Sharma, Founder and Chairperson of Impresario Global, said: “Post-pandemic, the world is beginning to see a resurgence of pro-social behaviour. The K.A.R.M.A. scale amplifies this in a unique manner with its envisaged pedagogical modules that are customised for diverse civic stakeholders and its one-stop tech-enabled product, The Cause Central, which incentivises civic empathy. We are eager to initiate the next phases of product development and promotions in markets like the UAE, United Kingdom, and Kenya with the support of our investors and collaborators. As an alumnus of ICCSR, it is wonderful to have had the opportunity to initiate this journey here with my mentors.”
As a student at the University of Nottingham, Anubhuti was awarded the Developing Solutions Masters Scholarship, designed for international students who want to make a difference to the development of key economic, environmental, structural, social, or political structures in their home country. Anubhuti returned to her native India and spent 10 years in the country’s marketing communications industry before she decided to build on her Masters thesis and launch her own business, focusing on building a tool to assess people’s pro-social knowledge, attitude and skills. Anubhuti approached Professor Judy Muthuri, an expert in sustainable business and development, to lead the research project to underpin the tool.
Indian actor-turned-entrepreneur, Vivek Anand Oberoi, co-founder of Impresario Global, said, “The world we live in today is in need of change, and change is only possible by being aware of Kindness, Altruism, Righteousness, Mindfulness, and Authenticity and practising them every day in our communities. The K.A.R.M.A. scale, with its customised modules for different stakeholders for each of these attributes has the power to harness and amplify civic empathy by encouraging people to think, why?”